Alexiada

Alexiada is a 3-day Medieval Byzantine Festival taking place since 2012, from late August to early September, gathering people from all around the region.

Based in multiple parallel events, it is a ceremony referring to Kastoria’s glorious history, opens within the church of Panagia Koumbelidiki – where the Evening prayer is taking place, and gives the visitors the chance to discover the Byzantine treasures of the city (e.g.: the Byzantine outdoor market in Van Flit square), to attend concerts of Byzantine music, theatrical performances, medieval parades – in which people are dressed up with old-fashioned costumes or hold vintage flags and banners, and finally, to experience a depiction of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos.

The festivity of Alexiada got its name from the Byzantine extract of "Alexia" written by the historic scholar Anna Komnene, in which the writer is delineating Norman Conquest of Kastoria and its freeing from the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, back in 1083 A.D..